Accolades

Round Rock turns heads

The City of Round Rock has achieved prominence as one of the best cities in Texas with numerous awards and accolades to its credit. Below is a list of some of the recognition it has received.

Round Rock No. 5 safest city in the nation

Round Rock was ranked the No. 5 safest city in the United States, based on crime rates for murder, assault, rape, burglary, and other crime statistics by city. The ranking by niche.com is based on data from the FBI and U.S. Census. The 2017 Safest Cities ranking provides a comprehensive assessment of the overall safety at the city level. This grade takes into account key indicators of a location’s safety, including violent and property crime rates, in an attempt to measure an area’s safety and security.

Round Rock was the only city in Texas to make the top 10.

No. 3 best city in America to start a family

One kid might be cryin’ and one kid screamin’, but at least when you’re in Round Rock, you’ve got the peace of mind that you picked one of the best places in America to raise that crazy family of yours! Yep, that’s right. Round Rock has once again found itself atop a city ranking, and this time, it’s for something that’s near and dear to our hometown heart – family.

In its latest study, LendEDU ranked Round Rock the No. 3 best city in the nation to start a family.

Williamson County ranked 4th-healthiest county in Texas

Residents have access to high-quality clinical care, high quality of life ratings and low unemployment to promote healthy lifestyles.

Livablity.com’s editors looked at cities across the country, evaluating not only cost of living but its own LivScore. According to the editors:

“Most Round Rock residents spend less than 28 percent of their salaries on housing and about seven percent less on groceries and utilities than the average American, according to The Council for Community and Economic Research. Health care and other living expenses hover at or below the national average as well, leaving residents with plenty of money to enjoy the many things there are to do in and around Round Rock.”

Best place to live the American Dream? Round Rock checks in at No. 8

Financial technology company, SmartAsset, has determined the Best Cities for Living the American Dream, and — to no one’s surprise locally — Round Rock made it’s way into the top ten. Coming in at No. 8 on the list, our proximity to a major metropolitan area, very low unemployment rate and high levels of homeownership are touted as a few of the reasons folks no longer have to just imagine what it would be like, but can truly live the American Dream.

Round Rock ranked 9th fastest growing city in America

Their analysis looked at the growth rates for cities over the last five years, according to the American Community Survey, which is released by the U.S. Census Bureau annually. With this data, all 303 cities with populations of 100,000 or more were ranked from highest growth rate to lowest.

No. 12 best city for your retirement

Bankrate.com used the following criteria to rank the top American cities for retirement: cost of living; crime rate (violent and property crimes); walkability; health care quality; state and local tax burden; personal well-being for seniors; weather (temperature and precipitation); and the vitality of the local cultural scene. Round Rock ranked No. 12, tops in Texas.

City named No. 2 best minor league baseball town

Financial technology company SmartAsset has determined the Best Minor League Baseball Towns of 2017, and the Sports Capital of Texas takes the number two spot. The Express had fans in Round Rock smiling this summer, but they have plenty of other reasons to cheer. The city’s unemployment rate is just 3.2 percent, eighth highest in our study. Likewise, while the city’s median income is about $70,000, annual housing costs average just $15,264. That adds up to the eighth highest discretionary income of any Minor League Baseball town – more money to spend on baseball tickets.

Round Rock listed among nation’s coolest suburbs

Thrillest deemed Round Rock one of the “coolest suburbs” in America for 2015, noting our burgeoning foodie scene as a major selling point for folks looking to settle down.

“Cheaper land comes with some serious culinary perks, including the first brick-and-mortar locations of both crazy-popular taco truck Veracruz All Natural (opening April 22nd) and Svante’s Stuffed Burgers. Combine that with upscale chains like Hopdoddy, and more classic RR spots like Greenhouse Craft Food and Round Rock donuts, a minor league baseball stadium, and a Flix Brewhouse (“the only first-run movie theater in the world to incorporate a fully functioning microbrewery”).”

Round Rock named among America’s most caring suburbs

Round Rock is the 8th most caring suburb in America, according to the Movoto Real Estate Blog in January 2015. The blog editors looked at the suburb’s student-counselor ratio, crime rate, number of community services and mental health counselors and other criteria when putting together the list. According to the blog, “this little city just outside of Austin shows almost as much love as its bigger neighbor. Not only does it have a student to counselor ratio of just 15 to 1, but it also—somewhat surprisingly—has some of the most carpooling residents in the country.”

Round Rock among top 10 fastest growing economies

Some cities have the best of everything: the jobs, the schools, the museums, the nightlife, you name it. They know the recipe for attractiveness. Round Rock is one of those cities, according to a recent study of socioeconomic growth by WalletHub released in September 2015. The company compared 515 U.S. cities of varying sizes across 10 key metrics, ranging from population growth to unemployment rate decrease. Round Rock ranked No. 10 overall.

Greater Austin Area named 2nd Best Metro Area for STEM Professionals

Round Rock ranks No. 6 best mid-sized city in U.S. to raise children

Round Rock ranks No. 6 among mid-size cities in the United States as the best place to raise children, according to a recently released analysis. Mylife.com, which published the rankings on Aug. 5, 2014.

Round Rock named Cheapest City People Want to Live

Round Rock was ranked the “cheapest city you will want to live in” by Kiplinger in September 2014, citing the “big-city salaries and small-town prices” as major attractors for people of all ages.

“Kiplinger has done a great job of combining cost of living factors with economic prosperity and quality of life,” Round Rock Mayor Alan McGraw said. “We’ve been working for years to diversify and grow the Round Rock economy, and give our citizens options to work where they live. Our economic development partnership between the city and the chamber has been a great part of making that happen.”

The criteria considered by Kiplinger for the ranking was the cost of living, strength of the local economy, and the job market.

Round Rock ranks No. 1 among Texas cities as the place to get the “biggest bang for your buck” according to an April 2014 report.

“When it comes to finding the best place to live in Texas, you’ve got to factor in more than just home costs,” according to Saveonenergy.com. “A cheap place to live with a high crime rate or low income levels isn’t an ideal place to call home.”

Williamson County ranks among healthiest counties in Texas

The 2016 County Health Rankings list Williamson County as the third healthiest place to live among 232 Texas counties. Since the County Rankings were first introduced in 2010, Williamson County has been listed among the top 3 counties in each new ranking.

Williamson County ranked as fastest-growing county in U.S.

Williamson County topped Forbes Magazine’s list of America’s Fastest-Growing Counties in September 2013. “The population of Williamson County, on the outskirts of Austin, has expanded 7.94 percent since 2010, the strongest growth in the nation over that period … over the past 25 years the county’s residents have enjoyed the Lone Star state’s fastest rate of income growth and the sixth-highest in the nation. With a strong tech scene – Dell is headquartered in the Williamson town of Round Rock — the county has increased employment by 73 percent since 2000, the third highest rate in the country.”